Predicting Oscars 09: who should win and who will February 21, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: 81st Academy Awards, Academy Award Predictions, Academy Awards, Academy Awards Prediction, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Benjamin Button, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film, Best Picture, Brad Pitt, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Gus Van Sant, Heath Ledger, Kate Winslet, Kung Fu Panda, makeup, Marisa Tomei, Meryl Streep, Michael Shannon, Mickey Rourke, Milk, Movie Reviews, Oscar, Oscar nominees, Oscar prediction, Oscar predictions, Oscar winner, Oscars, Oscars Ceremony, Penelope Cruz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, predict Academy Awards, predict Oscar winners, Predicting Oscar Winners, prediction, predictions, Rachel Getting Married, Revolutionary Road, Ron Howard, Sean Penn, Slumdog, Slumdog Millionaire, special effects, Stephen Daldry, Taraji P Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, The Reader, The Wrestler, visual effects, WALL-E, who should win, who will win
3 comments
I’m excited.
The ceremony for the 81st Academy Awards is finally about to take place. I’ve finally managed to see most of the nominated films for the major catgories that are available to me (see reviews here, here and here). While I initially predicted the winners and losers when the nominations first came out (here and here), the landscape has changed a little and I feel that now, since I’ve seen most of the films, I can also comment on who deserves to win.
So for tomorrow night, here’s who should win and who will (only categories with films I’ve seen). If there is an asterick (*) next to a nominee it means I have not seen that film (so my views do not include it).
Best Picture
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: All great movies. Based on my ratings and reviews of the films, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader scored the highest marks, but I would give the nod to Button. I just thought it was such an unusual and memorable film. Though not quite as good, it had a certain Forrest Gump-feel to it (probably because of the same writer).
Who will win: Slumdog Millionaire has been tipped all along and there won’t be anything standing in its way come Oscar night. There is a teeny little chance for an improbable upset by Button (which had the most nominations) but I can’t see any of the scandals derailing what should be a glorious night for Slumdog. Especially now that all the child actors are coming to the ceremony (albeit after the voting).
Best Director
Nominees: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Who should win: A very difficult one to pick because I feel they all did terrific jobs in their respective films. If I had to pick one I’d have to go with Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire was just that little bit more extraordinary than the others, and the way he pieced it all together was absolutely masterful.
Who will win: Danny Boyle. No doubt about it.
Best Actor
Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)*, Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Who should win: A coin-toss between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. I saw The Wrestler first and thought Rourke was a lock based on his emotional, nuanced performance, not to mention his amazing physical resemblance to a real-life wrestler. You felt his physical pain in the ring, you felt his emotional pain outside of it. It was the performance of a lifetime. But then I saw Milk and Sean Penn’s performance just blew me away. Yes, he was playing a real-life character, but man did he do it well. You honestly believed he was the inspirational Harvey Milk. Too hard for me to choose.
Who will win: Mickey Rourke. He’s the sentimental favourite and Penn has already got one (for Mystic River). The only way Rourke can lose is if he really pissed off as many people in the industry as he claims (and judging from his BAFTA acceptance speech I can kind of see how it might be possible).
Best Actress
Nominees: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River)*, Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Who should win: Really tough choice. I think as far as the performance is concerned, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway are all very deserving (Jolie was very good but not quite there). But based on the difficulty of the roles they had to play I would give Kate Winslet the edge. Her character was so important to what The Reader was trying to tell and she played each phase of Hanna Schmitz’s life wonderfully.
Who will win: Kate Winslet. It’s her time. Streep is consistently this good so she won’t stand out as much, whereas Hathaway is young and she’ll have plenty of chances (plus her role is less sensational).
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
Who should win: Heath Ledger. As terrific as Hoffman was in Doubt and Shannon was in Revolutionary Road, Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight will forever be remembered as one of the great ones. I still remember when he was first cast as the Joker and plenty of people scoffed at the idea that he could pull it off (even after Brokeback Mountain). No one is denying that he was the right man for the role now.
Who will win: Heath Ledger. All the major awards leading up to the Oscars indicate he will win. I honestly believe he deserves it, even if he were still alive today – the performance was that mesmerizing. The fact that he’s not around anymore just about locks it in.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
Who should win: The ones that stood out for me were Amy Adams and Taraji P Henson. Marisa Tomei was wonderful in The Wrestler but I liked the other two more. Viola Davis was barely in Doubt, though she made great use of her limited screen time. Penelope Cruz was good but I didn’t think the performance was Oscar-worthy – or maybe I just didn’t like the character.
Who will win: Penelope Cruz. In this case, I think the least deserving will win. She’s the most well-known of the group and her role was different and explosive. Plus all the focus has been on her leading up to the Oscars. I hope she doesn’t win but I think she will.
Best Original Screenplay
Nominees: Frozen River*, Happy-Go-Lucky*, In Bruges, Milk, WALL-E
Who should win: Having only seen 3 of the 5 nominees, I don’t feel sufficiently equipped to judge this one. Out of the 3 films I did see, they were all very good, but probably In Bruges stood out as just being somewhat special.
Who will win: In Bruges has taken a lot of the lead-up awards, but WALL-E is also a favourite because it manages to do so much with so little dialogue. I’m going with In Bruges but won’t be surprised in WALL-E took it out. Note I originally picked Milk, but that was before I saw most of the films.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: “Adapted” screenplay is thrown around a little loosely because some of the scripts I’m sure barely resemble the original source. Nevertheless, I thought the adaptation of The Reader was sensational, dealing with the majority of the themes and events perfectly in Bernhard Schlink’s novel.
Who will win: Originally picked Doubt but after seeing the film I felt the adaptation could have been better. I have a feeling this award will be lumped with the bunch of awards that Slumdog Millionaire will win on the night.
Cinematography
Nominees: Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: Another tough one. I’m don’t have any technical specialty so this is based purely on what I thought looked best. And using that criterion, I thought Changeling was particularly memorable, though Slumdog Millionaire’s eye-opening portrayal of Mumbai was also impressive.
Who will win: Slumdog to bag another one.
Editing
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: Another technical one, but I liked the work in Button, where editing was particularly important.
Who will win: This might be one of those sympathy awards given to Button, which, despite all its nominations, continues to be beaten by Slumdog. I hope so because I think in this case it deserves the award.
Art Direction
Nominees: Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess*, Revoluntionary Road
Who should win: I thought the Art Direction in Changeling was the best, though The Dark Knight was pretty cool too.
Who will win: A category where Slumdog was not nominated? Chalk this one up to Button because when the two films go head to head, it’s going to lose out most times.
Makeup
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Who should win: No contest – the make-up in Button was just ridiculous. Sure, Hellboy II was good, but we had seen it all in the first film.
Who will win: Button. The make-up had to be seen to be believed – especially the old Cate Blanchett.
Visual Effects
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Iron Man
Who should win: Another no contest in favour of Button. As goods as the effects were in the two superhero films, the effects in Button were the best I’ve ever seen. Freakishly amazing.
Who will win: See above. Button all the way. It cannot not win.
Costume Design
Nominees: Australia*, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess*, Milk, Revoluntionary Road
Who should win: Only seen 3 of the 5 films, so not qualified. Though from what I’ve seen of the other 2, The Duchess looked great.
Who will win: The Duchess had won the earlier awards so I look for the trend to continue.
Music (Original Score)
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance*, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E
Who should win: To be honest I can’t really remember much of the music in any of the films – except the Bollywood music in Slumdog.
Who will win: Slumdog, just because it’s the favourite to win.
Music (Original Song)
Nominees: Slumdog Millionaire (twice), WALL-E
Who should win: Slumdog – one of the songs was pretty good.
Who will win: Slumdog – it has a 2 in 3 chance anyway.
Sound
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E
Who should win: The sound in The Dark Knight stood out for me amongst the nominees. It was probably the Batcycle.
Who will win: Slumdog.
Sound Editing
Nominees: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, Wanted
Who should win: Now this I remember pretty well, and The Dark Knight was phenomenal.
Who will win: The Dark Knight. I hope it gets this one – and Slumdog can’t just win them all.
Animated Film
Nominees: Bolt*, Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E
Who should win: Not a big fan of animated films but WALL-E wasn’t too bad. Kung Fu Panda was pretty ordinary and Bolt (which I haven’t seen) didn’t look too crash hot either.
Who will win: WALL-E – pretty much a lock.
Oscars/Golden Globes Film Reviews Part III February 21, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews.Tags: Academy Awards, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Benjamin Button, Best Picture, Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading, Changeling, Doubt, film, film review, Frost/Nixon, Golden Globes, Gran Torino, In Bruges, Kate Winslet, Kung Fu Panda, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mamma Mia, Meryl Streep, Milk, movie review, movies, Oscars, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pineapple Express, Rachel Getting Married, reviews, Revolutionary Road, Sean Penn, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Reader, The Wrestler, Tropic Thunder, Vicki Cristina Barcelona, WALL-E
2 comments
I’ve done it. I finally managed to watch all the Oscar/Golden Globe nominated films I could possibly get to before the Oscar ceremony on Sunday!
Here’s the third instalment of my short Flixter film reviews and possibly the best of the lot! The first instalment can be found here (Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, The Reader, Vicki Cristina Barcelona, In Bruges, Pineapple Express, Burn After Reading, Tropic Thunder, Changeling, Mamma Mia, The Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda) and the second here (WALL-E and Gran Torino).
Again, ratings are out of 5 stars.
Rachel Getting Married (3.5 stars)
Years of suppressed family emotions explode around a family wedding. Well-written script with some clever dialogue and witty interactions, even though this type of drama would not be everyone’s cup of tea. A remarkable performance by Anne Hathway (I didn’t know she could act this well) and a solid supporting cast. Not all of it worked but enough of it did.
Doubt (3.5 stars)
Extraordinary performances all round (Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman as always, but Amy Adams really stole the show as the doubting nun), but it was an obvious play adaptation with lots and lots of talking. The characters were extremely well defined, though I couldn’t help but feel there was a certain clunkiness in the way things panned out. Not to take away too much from this film because it tackles many of the themes very cleverly through subtle actions and explosive dialogue. Doubt is indeed an apt title for this film.
Milk (4 stars)
True story about the first openly gay public official in America. Pretty incredible movie and a ridiculously superb performance by Sean Penn. It was entertaining, informative, frightening and enlightening all at the same time. Hard to believe it was only 30 years ago that this happened in our world. I particularly liked the ending where they showed the real life counterparts of the actors.
Revolutionary Road (4 stars)
It’s hard to know where to begin with a movie that explores the essence of life, love, marriage, children, work, dreams, hopes and reality. It is so rare to see such a brutal, honest, emotional portrayal of suburban and married life, no matter what era. Granted, some people won’t get it for one reason or another, but those that do will find a story that will resonate with them for a long time. All performances are outstanding – I know Kate Winslet has gotten all the attention for this role and The Reader, but Leonardo DiCaprio is really her equal in this film, and it’s a shame he didn’t get the same recognition. Michael Shannon was also brilliant and stole every scene he was in.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (4.5 stars)
A strange premise but an ultimately rewarding film. The make up and special effects are the best I’ve ever seen, both the ageing and the de-ageing stuff is just phenomenal. The film works not really as a running narrative but rather as a series of moments, like its tagline. I found it very captivating to go through the journey of life with this bizarre character, through his ups and downs, flaws and all. There are some minor problems and it is a tad too long, plus Brad Pitt wasn’t truly able to capture the nuances of the ageing process (he acted like the way he looked rather than the age he was) – however, I think when it’s all said and done this is one of the more memorable movies in recent years.
* * *
NB: Just a few words about my rating and review system. First and foremost, they are taken directly from Flixter, so are always short. I don’t like to discuss too much plot in my reviews because I think it ruins a movie. Which is why (even though I can’t help but watch them) I generally dislike previews because they tend to give away too much by revealing the best bits and almost always contain spoilers. I also hate long reviews that reveal too much plot (this happens a lot these days in reviews I read) – what’s the point of telling everyone what the entire film is about? With my ratings, they are out of 5 and are entirely subjective, always decided on the spot based on gut instinct after viewing. I never re-adjust a rating afterward and I don’t compare them to previous ratings – hence two films can have the same rating but I may think one is better than the other. Also, I tend to find there is a significant difference between 2.5 stars (below average) and 3 stars (good) and 3.5 stars (pretty good) and 4 stars (excellent), more so than other half-star differences.
Lastly, the only 5 star film reviewed in these 3 posts is The Wrestler, which I think is the best film I’ve seen so far this year. For the Best Picture Oscar nominees, The Reader and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are tied with 4.5 stars, but I think the latter is the film I prefer. Though it is a moot point anyway since Slumdog Millionaire is going to win!
“Worst Holocaust Film Ever Made” – author blasts The Reader February 16, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment, Movie Reviews.Tags: Academy Awards, Adolf Hitler, Bernhard Schlink, Best Actress, Charlie Finch, Holocaust, Kate Winslet, Life is Beautiful, Nazi, Oscar, Oscar ceremony, Oscars, Ron Rosembaum, Rosenbaum, Slumdog Millionaire, Stephen Daldry, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Reader, Valkyrie, Worst Holocaust Film, Worst Holocaust Film Ever Made
add a comment
Surely there have been worse films about the Holocaust than The Reader
Author/Journalist says ‘We don’t need another ‘redemptive’ Holocaust Movie
Ron Rosenbaum, a Jewish-American journalist and author who spent years researching Adolf Hitler, has slammed Stephen Daldry’s The Reader as the “The Worst Holocaust Film Ever Made” just a couple of weeks out from the Academy Awards.
Have a look his rant/article entitled ‘Don’t give an Oscar to The Reader’ here. What do you think? In it, Rosenbaum says: “This is a film whose essential metaphorical thrust is to exculpate Nazi-era Germans from knowing complicity in the Final Solution. The fact that it was recently nominated for a best picture Oscar offers stunning proof that Hollywood seems to believe that if it’s a “Holocaust film,” it must be worthy of approbation, end of story.”
He then goes on to tear apart the film and its central character, Hanna Schmitz with a lot of exclamation marks, and also takes a few jabs at other Holocaust-related films such as Valkyrie, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and the “disgraceful” Life Is Beautiful. In short, Rosenbaum doesn’t like The Reader because of the message he perceives it sends.
Who is this guy?
Just where did this dude pop out from? Does his opinion hold any value? I was determined to find out, so I looked him up. According to his Wikipedia entry (and other sources), Rosenbaum is best known for his critically acclaimed book, “Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil.”
According to Rosenbaum, The Reader somehow attempts to exculpate Germans from the Nazi era and post-Nazi era. Is he reading too much into this? Did he simply not get the movie? Or is he so narrow minded as to think that any movie which even mentions the Holocaust needs to be solely focused on the evil and brutality of those involved and any suggestion that they may have been remotely human equates to exculpating them? Isn’t understanding the best way to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again?
It’s clear from the way he blasted the Holocaust-related films such as Valkyrie, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (which he hasn’t even seen yet) and Life Is Beautiful suggests that Rosenbaum believes that there is no place in cinema for any fictional films that touch on the Holocaust in any way, and even if there is, all it should do is condemn condemn condemn. Any film that attempts to understand the actions of those complicit in the Holocaust is unforgivable to him. For a guy that dedicated years of his life to ‘explaining Hitler’ through researching the origins of evil himself (and wrote a book about it), what he has said strikes me as extraordinarily ironic and moronic.
Rosenbaum’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t believe viewers of films are capable of making up their own minds. He’s concerned that films like The Reader will brainwash people into believing that the Holocaust was somehow excusable. He even links the film to Holocaust revisionism and Holocaust denial. This has clouded his ability to judge the film properly and without overwhelming bias.
An example is Rosenbaum’s scathing view that Hanna’s illiteracy is the film’s way of excusing her for the unspeakable crimes she committed. To him, it’s an obvious metaphor for the Germans who pleaded ignorance during the time Jews were being sent to their deaths. What he fails to see is that the film actually tackles the issue of German ignorance head on. The scene in which one of the students has an outburst in class sends a clear message that there was no way people didn’t know about what was going on. As the student implied: everyone, including his parents and teachers, knew but did nothing. Just because that particular student appeared clueless was just the method of getting the point across, but Rosenbaum completely misconstrues it as exculpating all Germans who pleaded ignorance. It actually does the opposite. Further, there is a subtle but enormous difference between ‘exculpating’ and ‘understanding’ – personally, I think the film walked the line well – allowing viewers to understand Hanna’s story and make up their own minds about her. It’s unfortunate that Rosenbaum couldn’t pick up the difference and rubbishes the entire film for it.
I’d have no problem if he hated the movie because he thought it just wasn’t very good, but his poor reasoning for calling it “The Worst Holocaust Film Ever Made” simply demonstrates that while he might know a lot about the Holocaust, he doesn’t have a clue when it comes to movies.
How will the comments affect the film’s Oscar chances?
The Reader is nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Stephen Daldry and Best Actress for Kate Winslet. Out of all its nominations, only Kate Winslet’s portrayal of Hanna Schmitz is a favourite to win (thanks to Slumdog Millionaire). So how are Rosenbaum’s comments likely to affect Kate’s odds of winning her first Oscar statuette after missing out 5 times previously (thrice for Best Actress, twice for Best Supporting Actress)? Chances are, not very much.
Oscar voting closes tomorrow (17 February 2009), in time for the 22 February ceremony. Though the critique was published on the 9th of February, it didn’t really gather much press until the last couple of day. Therefore, despite Rosenbaum’s plea for voters not to cast their vote for the film (and presumably, Kate Winslet), it appears he has left it a little too late. Even if it did manage to persuade some voters, it’s unlikely that Kate, who has already won most awards on offer thus far, will miss out this year.
It should be recalled that this is not the first time that the film has been criticised. When The Reader first came out, the film was condemned by film critic Charlie Finch (unsurprisingly, a friend of Rosenbaum), who complained: “It trivialises the Holocaust. What is repellent is how Daldry uses Kate Winslet’s nubile body to create sympathy for a repellent character. Daldry avoided showing the horror of her crimes – instead we have Holocaust chic which is all about sex, not mass murder.”
This guy was obviously paying too much attention to the sex and Kate’s “nubile body” to have noticed what the film was about. While the first half of the film does contain a fair amount of nudity and sex, how the attractiveness of one’s body stirs up sympathy remains a strange concept to me. Finch’s comments caused a little bit of media attention at the time, but they quickly died down and Kate Winslet went on to sweep most of the awards.
I can still recall when negative press about the accuracy of The Hurricane cost Denzel Washington his Oscar and when controversies surrounding Brokeback Mountain‘s subject matter may have prevented Heath Ledger from his. But in neither of those cases were they as clear cut favourites to win as Kate Winslet is this year. Most people simple believe it is her time. I do too.
BAFTA Winners! February 8, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: BAFTA, BAFTA Awards, BAFTA winners, BAFTAs, British Academy Film Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Danny Boyle, Heath Ledger, Hunger, In Bruges, Kate Winslet, Man on Wire, Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz, Slumdog Millionaire, Steve McQueen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, The Reader, The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, WALL-E
add a comment
The winners of the last major film award ceremony before the Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), have just been announced!
I must say there weren’t many surprises, if any. The big winner was of course Slumdog Millionaire, which came away with 7 awards (including Best Film) out of 11 nominations. Danny Boyle, Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger also continued their strong runs to now look like certainties at the Oscars next month.
Full list of winners below.
Best Film: Slumdog Millionare
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best British Film: Man on Wire
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Editing: Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Production Design: Donald Grahan Burt, Victor J Zolfo (The Curious Case of Bejamin Button)
Best Costume Design: Michael O’Connor (The Duchess)
Best Make Up/Hair: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Film Music: AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Sound: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Non-English Film: Il y a longtemps que je t’aime
Best Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Orange Rising Star Award: Noel Clarke
Most Promising Newcomer: Steven McQueen (Hunger)
Best Short Animation: Wallace and Gromit in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Short Film: September
Slumdog Update: Protests, Giving Back and More Awards February 5, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: Academy Awards, child exploitation, Danny Boyle, defamation, demonstrations, Dev Patel, Kate Winslet, Mickey Rourke, Mumbai, Mumbai protest, Oscars, protests, Richard Attenborough, Richard Attenborough Film Awards, scandals, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, The Reader, The Wrestler
add a comment
Oscar front-runner Slumdog Millionaire is still dominating the press for various reasons, both good and bad. As a result, this is shaping up to be a very interesting Academy Awards this year. Will the voters stick with the movie or will they be swayed by the negative press?
Protests in Mumbai
Despite the success of the film worldwide, Slumdog Millionaire has been the subject of protests in the country in which it was made. Naturally, there are those who believe it is a poor portrayal of India and in particular Mumbai. We’ve also already heard about the child exploitation allegations. Now according to Reuters, dozens or residents of an actual slum in Mumbai (where some scenes of the film were shot) protested against the film by “hurling insults and hitting pictures of its cast and crew with slippers”.
According to The Times, social groups in India are also speaking up against the film. “Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights,” claimed social activist Tateshwar Vishwakarma, calling for effigies of director Danny Boyle to be burnt as a sign of protest. A defamation suit was filed on 23 January against the film’s composer AR Rahman and actor Anil Kapoor (who plays the host).
Nicholas Almeida, another activist, was reported by MSNBC to be planning another lawsuit to change the film’s title.
On top of this, various Indian filmakers have also spoken out against the film’s Indian stereotypes and unbelievable plot.
Giving back to the Slums
With the blacklash in India running wild, The Times has reported that the film’s makers are planning an ambitious scheme to pump “significant” amounts of the film’s profits back into the slums of Mumbai (and perhaps the rest of India) by establishing a fund. According to director Danny Boyle, the idea came to them after their successful night at the Golden Globes.
While refusing to specify exactly how much will be donated, Boyle said that the aim of the fund would be to assist underprivileged children and to distribute money to various projects.
The director has also defended the film’s title, stating that “slumdog” was not intended as an insult and was more akin to the word “underdog” – to connote the idea of a person who succeeds against all odds.
Slumdog bags more Awards
Slumdog Millionaire picked up more accolades at the Richard Attenborough Film Awards handed out at the end of January. The film won the award for Film of the Year, while Danny Boyle picked up another one for Best Director. It was also good to see Dev Patel win a couple of awards, the Rising Star Award and the people’s choice British Breakthrough Star prize.
Other winners included Kate Winslet (Best Actress for The Reader), Mickey Rourke (Best Actor for The Wrestler) and Martin McDonagh (Best Screenwriter for In Bruges). In the People’s Choice categories, The Dark Knight won best film and best score, while Mamma Mia! took the best British film prize.
Stumble It!
About Writing - The Personal Blog of Pace J Miller 